Post-Day 31 - Realizations and Reasons

So, my students and I were completely paperless (and still are) for 31+ days. That's a really long time to not have handouts or homework come in on paper, so I most definitely applaud my students (and myself) for trying something new, being pioneers, and really thinking about how to avoid using and wasting paper. That said, I've spent the last week or so ruminating over what I really want out of this project. I wanted to try something new; I wanted to avoid the copy machine, and I wanted to give my kids some problem-solving skills that they will most certainly come across in the years to come.

So now what?

I touted the fact that I shouldn't force students into learning my way, so with that said, I plan to let them choose the way they want their homework and notes. Paperless is now an option, not a requirement. I won't run things off, but I will provide every student with electronic copies. If he or she wants to make paper copies and turn them in, the option is there. It's always been there, really.

Now it will be fun to see who remains paperless... I've shown them how to do it; I wonder who will keep flying the flag.

Day 31 - Bleh.

For the first time in 31 days, i've questioned my project. I need to think a little before I write more.

Talk About Paperless... - Days 23-25

Every winter our students choose a place in town at which to intern in order to learn about LIFE IN THE REAL WORLD. Needless to say, they are often blinded by the fact that they can sleep until 9am, which translates into their staying up all night long. Generous businesses around the city host them and work very hard to teach them about life in the working world. They learn about running a small business, selling and buying, prosecuting, restaurant-running, publishing, promoting musicians, making jewelry, dentistry, veterinary medicine and many other awesome things. Obviously, this is about as paper-free as it gets. Real life learning = the ultimate paperfree experience.

Business To Tend To - Day 22

I was not at school today, but I was able to monitor work done by my students via google docs. I had them add some stuff to a document that had already been shared with me, and since Google can track all changes and additions to the document, I was able to see who did their work and when/if they finished by the end of their respective class. It sure does feel good to hold them accountable even when I'm sitting in the DMV. That's a great feeling.

So Normal It Was Boring - Day 21

So yeah, totally normal:

Routine in place? (check)
8th grade student sass (check and check to the "n"th power)
Students troubleshooting themselves (check)
Students attempting to surreptitiously search the web for glitter lip gloss (check)
Student caught and banned from computers for the remainder of class? (check)


Oh, but one cool, new little paperless thing today. The 7th graders and I did some multiple choice exam prep by writing on our desks. Everyone got an Expo marker and answered my class starters on their desks. That's right; I let them write on their desks. They seemed to love it. Low tech and satisfying.

And In All Fairness...

We are really 21 days without paper counting weekends and holidays. The kids have to work paperfree at home too, so there. Yay for the 20s.

My Thoughts On Homework

So I've had this debate in my head for the past 10 years. It's about homework. And how and when to give it. I think about how I've handled assigning homework over the years, and it's scary for me to think just how lousy I used to be and sometimes still am.

Consider English class. Is it a better use of time to go home and answer questions out of a textbook or is it better to read a poem, jot down some notes about it, and use Facebook or texting to discuss it with friends? Is that even feasible? Can I even grade that? No one actually gets a thrill out of answering those textbook questions. Yet there are pages and clubs dedicated to discussing literature and art, physics and biology. And why is that? It's because people love to talk about what love and find interesting. But only if they are 30+. They don't love to be graded on how they answer questions; they just love to talk. Would it be more feasible to assign a student to find a popular reference to the book or story and explain it? In talking and discussing, they learn. And in this social media-rich environment, it's stupidly backwards to refrain from tapping in to that; however, schools don't want the liability/distraction of social media. What a conundrum since social media accounts for 80% of the lives of teenagers who would rather Tweet, Tumble, Facebook, text, or Kinect rather than discuss something face-to-face.

So how do you make homework relevant to "screenagers"? How do you imbed the rules of comma use to tweens? How do you help kids of the digital age recognize imagery and discuss symbolism without homework as practice?

One thing I've noticed over the last several paperless weeks is that I have become far more judicious about what I give as homework. I've had to come to terms that grading everything I assign is essential. And I have come to realize that having a night off from English work is not a criminally negligent act on my part.

I don't know where homework is headed in the 21st century, but I'm willing to bet that it's moving away from the canned textbook questions I grew up with. Homework will look more like getting prepared for a debate or meeting. It will come in many forms, and not every person will be doing it the same way. That's pure speculation on my part, but I think I'm on to something...

Research Paper Worries - More Day 12

Why do these thoughts come in clusters? I know it must get annoying to some of you who signed up to read this silly thing, but honestly, this is just a place for me to keep everything straight in my head. When something sparks, I have to save it....and this is where it lands.

I have worried for a while that I will have to break this awesome paperless streak come spring when research paper time rolls around. It's not the actual paper I'm worried about; it's the notecard-writing and organizing of the paper that's freaking me out. In the past, kids have gone through a 7-layer-burrito-sized stack of notecards, and those have been used to cluster ideas and organize topics and quotes. What's a paperfree teacher to do if she can't use notecards?

I just discovered some of the answer...and maybe all of the answer.

Mindmeister

Check this bad jammer out:

A Tour of MindMeister from MindMeister on Vimeo.

I haven't worked out the details (After all, it's a spring project, and right now, I have to figure out how to give a paperless exam to 46 students with only 24 computers....), but I can see how this will help kids organize ideas, websites, and notes about certain topics. Not only that, the girls are gonna love being able to make it all pretty by embedding pictures.

Gosh, now I can't wait to make a little mini project with Mindmeister to get them used to it. : )

More Projects, Less Busy Work - Day 12

A word about projects: They have become my best friend.

I'm starting to see how just a little solid core instruction can go a long way with a good, well-designed project. For instance, I spent 15 minutes introducing symbols one day. On the next day, I spent another 15 minutes discussing allegory. The two topics go hand-in-hand, obviously; however, had I taught both of those topics in one 45 minute class period, my lovely "screenagers" would have started daydreaming about the "Never-Say-Never" Bieberfest that was happening tonight. Since I split the lesson into bite-sized chunks, I was able to hold their attention for the project I had been planning for a week.

These two 15-minute core instructions led to the coup de gras - that merciful deathblow that would save my kids from multiple choice and fill-in hell: "Stump The Chump" - An Allegory Project.

Step 1: Divide into productive groups (use information from prior projects to avoid repeat partners).
Step 2: Assign a modern allegory such as a Twilight Zone Episode or a Dr. Seuss book.
Step 3: Outline the three P's: Paragraph, Poster, Presentation
Step 4: Let them loose with the four C's: Critical thinking, Collaboration, Communication and Creativity

Bake for 45 miuntes.
Take out of the oven and let cool for a day.
Repeat Step 4 until baking is complete.

Enjoy this delicious recipe for as many days as is necessary for a thorough comparison and explanation of the modern allegory.

A Celebration - Day 10

Well, Day 10 was yesterday, but it's worth noting because it's a nice, round, double-digit number. We celebrated with the 2049385720345 boxes of Girls Scout cookies I bought from various students.

But, you know, beyond the small celebration it was a completely normal day. We got out computers, I gave a superb lesson that engaged every single teenager I taught, and we went home. ; )

Seriously, though, it was a normal day...but without paper.

Remember Two Things... - Day 9

1) Don't accidentally unplug your computer cart overnight if you are in the midst of running a paperless classroom.


2) The kids who whine without a computer will whine twice and much WITH a computer.


That's as much as I will say on this Day 9 - the least stellar of my paper-free days.

Better luck to us all tomorrow.

There's An App For That...

While I was briefly thumbing through the App Store looking for a version of my favorite childhood video game, Centipede, I came across a crapload of Apps that I think my students would be able to use for educational purposes.

Math
Of the teachers who are most skeptical about going paperless, it's the math teachers. Rightly so, because how will students write out the answers to their homework problems?? I don't have an answer for that unless there's an online site or pad/phone app that will allow you to draw, save, and send... Until we make an ipad-sized Smartboard, algebra students can review basics and hone their foundation with the Algebra Touch, or graph their parabolas with this free graphing calculator.

FlashCards
I have pointed my kids to these apps to make flashcards since they can't turn in paper index cards anymore. There are very basic flashcard apps like this one: Flascards+. Flashcards++ allows you to theoretically download cards from Quizlet, which would be incredibly helpful to some of my students. There's a "lite" version. I'd try that before spending the $4 on it. The same offerings are available from this app, Flashcards Deluxe, and it has a "lite" version of it as well. Dang, just do an App Store search for "Flashcards," and you'll find a bunch of stuff to choose from.


Science
If you are working on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and Stephen Hawking is your best friend, the Atomium Periodic Table is for you. iElements is a cool little app that is free. It gives you all of the scientific number stuff PLUS pictures and information about each element.

English
Now, you know you can get lots of the books that you read in school at the iTunes audiobook store. There are also books inside of the iBook app as well. But what about stuff like grammar? There apps for practicing and reference! Grammar Guide is a basic reference app. Grammar Up is much more specific.

History
You can find the US Constitution in an app. This historical documents app was also pretty cool.

But while I was poking around, I also noticed more and more textbook companies (like McGraw-Hill) creating apps as ancillary materials for their textbooks. Notice that in this app, all of the McGraw Hill texts can be accessed with one app, and the app contains ancillary material that runs with the information in the textbook. Wave of the future? Most certainly.

And While I'm At It...

...Let me just sing the praises of my Latin classes for their 7 Wonders Projects via Glogster - an online service that allows students to create posters-on-steroids. (Educators, Glogster offers an .edu version just for us!) Bask in the amazingness of the interactive pictures, movies, and icons. Click on a picture, and it pops out. Press the play button and a movie starts. They have linked text to other pages, embedded movies, and all sorts of other stuff. Enjoy some of the amazing designs and layouts; they are beautiful and definitely worth the week I gave them to create and present:

Another Fun Activity Sans Papier - Day 8

The irony test that I gave on classmarker.com went really well. No glitches! It's been a week (8 days really), and the kids are getting used to the routines and pathways. One guy - the one who sent his first email on day one - looked at me and said, "Wow, Mrs. White, I've come a long way in a week, huh?" Yes sir, you most certainly have! (Last week, you had no idea how to send an email, and this week you are functioning paper-free with relative ease. I might even go so far as to say that you, sir, are even comfortable without the paper. And as you saunter in with only a textbook and a smile, I might even call you liberated...)

But again, I digress.

The same class with my emailing genius came in wondering why I had marked each desk with a number. (I love to make them wonder what in the world I could be devising for class.) With an Expo marker, I had written a number from 1-12 on each of my 24 desks. That meant that two desks had the same number. Desks with the same number became partners, so they scooted around to gain proximity to one another and listen for directions.

Once I told them that they were to translate a story with a partner sharing one document, light bulbs went off, and they started handling the technicalities on their own....At this point I stood on top of a desk, did a dance of unadulterated joy, and promised to bring them Cokes on Day 10.

The rest of the class is history: They did their work, students worked together and completed translations for access the next time they needed them, shared their documents without me having to remind them, and earned themselves a little free time.

It. was. epic.

Coolest Test Review Ever - Day Seven

I'm giving a test on irony and ambiguity tomorrow and until today had always just lectured a list of things to do, handed out a review sheet, and let students work together in groups through the material while I walked around answering questions. Collaborative critical thinking, right? (Remember that phrase for later, mkay?)

Today was different, very different.

First, since I couldn't hand out anything, I made a shared Google doc that was "view only." In it contained that obligatory list of "Things To Do So You Will Pass My Test," but what made it different was that I linked the online version of the textbook to it (no need to lug the 12lb brick home), and I linked the notes we had discussed (but didn't write down) from Day ONE of the experiment much to the relief of my pack of OCD girls.

(Insert lots of "yay's" and "sweet!'s," as well as the predictable, "Do we have to do all of this?")

But that isn't the best part of the review.

After that I shared with them a Google Presentation on Irony. They thought it would be me yammering on about definitions and such, but they started to figure out something was different when they all had privileges to edit.

(Small diversion: One kid wrote "poop" on the slide show to delight and entertain his classmates. (He had to close his computer). "But how did you know who it was?? Since no one fessed up?," you ask. I just looked at the revision history and found out instantly. No longer was he "delighting" and "entertaining" his classmates. Ahhh, power is good.)

But I digress...

So 23 people are sharing this one slide show I made. They start to notice that each student has his own slide and ask what is going on. I explain that I would like them to go and find comics that contain irony, add them to their slide, and write one sentence labeling the type of irony and explaining why the comic is ironic. Then I let them loose. On the technical side, I strolled around and helped a few insert images, but MOST of the questions (for the first time in a week) were about IRONY!

"I think this is situational irony because those three people are fighting over a book about the art of sharing; I'm right, right?" (Yep!)



"The fact that George Bush is upset that reporters are invading his privacy while he is using government surveillance to monitor people is situational irony, right?" (Yes, again)




"OMG, he has no idea that he's about to jump in a swarm of jellyfish. Dramatic irony!?" (Yep)




Ultimately, after about 10 minutes of hunting and thinking, copying and pasting, we had a 23-slide presentation that they could view later while they were studying tonight. They laughed at the cartoons, asked tons of good questions, and all worked on the same slide show at the same time and both delighted and entertained their friends without writing "poop" all over my slide show.

Now, that was some serious collaborative critical thinking.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly - Day Six

After about 5 days of getting used to the switch, I'm starting to get back into the normal routine of material that I had planned to cover. If you want to do this, don't expect it to just happen. You have to teach the kids how to troubleshoot their machines, try new applications, organize usernames and passwords, make the transition form classroom to home...and that's just the tip of it. I even have to get myself into a new routine, starting with making an online list of tasks I have to complete, like remembering to grade the 7th grade handout that is so quietly sitting in my Google docs. There aren't stacks of papers to remind me that stuff needs grading.

I've had to figure out ways to label rubrics and return that information to individuals, ways to distribute forms that can be filled out individually...and all of this going into it with a pretty darn good learning curve already.

Today after my 6th paperless day, I had my 7th graders ponder the good and the bad of the entire experience:

The Good:


•"I like being able to finally keep up with the teacher as she talks; I can’t write fast. That, and I love computers, so this has been generally great."
•"The coolest part of this experiment will be when I fix my phone so I might be able to do my homework on my phone. Plus the no books part. It my be sometime in the near future when I don't have to kill my back with a backpack."
•"I like it because I don’t have to bring home all of the papers."
•"It educates students about how to use computers and is much faster than writing."
•"I like learning to share Google documents."
•"I like not having a piece of paper to keep up with."
•"I love computers and I am really good at them too. I also love to type."
•"We have gone a whole week with being paperless and its much easier to organize."


The Bad


•"Trying to do my homework when sometimes or many times when I don’t have access to a computer"
•"Dealing with a computer that's not a Mac (my parents have PCs)."
•"Waiting for web pages to load"
•"Having to remember whether to use Safari or Firefox on certain things."
•"Having to wait for my sister to get off of the computer so that I can do my homework."


The Ugly:

I caught myself forcing kids to use Evernote. It was an utter flop. All the sudden I realized that I had reverted back to my alter ego (the school marm), imposing my way on them. Note to self: Expose kids to several options, then let them choose the best way to keep up with their stuff.